The U.S. Departments of Homeland Security (DHS) and State (DOS) have implemented changes to a federal program to help migrant children from Central America enter the U.S.
The changes to the Central American Minors (CAM) program "build on the Biden-Harris Administration’s continued efforts to provide alternatives to perilous and irregular migration to the border," the agencies stated in an April 12 joint news release.
"The Central American Minors program provides young, vulnerable children with a safe and orderly way to access humanitarian protection in the United States," DHS Sec. Alejandro Mayorkas said in the news release. "Through today's expansion of this important program, we are strengthening lawful migration pathways so that individuals do not put their lives at risk in the hands of vicious smugglers.”
The CAM program was established in 2014 to allow specific minors in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras with relatives in the U.S. legally to enter the U.S. as refugees through the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP); ineligible applicants could be considered for possibly entering the U.S. through parole, according to the news release.
The changes initiated by DHS and DOS this month "expand access to the program and streamline certain processes, building upon President Biden’s Executive Order 14010, which sought to reinstitute and improve the CAM program," according to the release.
DHS in August 2017 ended the parole element of CAM, the release reports, and DOS stopped taking application in November 2017.
"By the time CAM interviews ceased on January 31, 2018, nearly 1,800 CAM applicants had arrived in the United States as refugees, with another 1,450 as parolees," the release states.
On June 15, 2021, State and DHS re-opened the CAM program and expanded eligibility to file an Affidavit of Relationship to include legal guardians, and parents and legal guardians with pending asylum applications or petitions for certain nonimmigrant statuses and extends certain cutoff dates, according to the release.
"The United States is committed to promoting safe and orderly migration in our hemisphere, as we and partners in the region made clear in the Los Angeles Declaration," U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in the news release. "Beyond the thousands of cases we have processed since its reopening in 2021, we remain committed to seeking new ways to improving lawful pathways like the Central American Minors program."
